1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a small silicon disk memory card, and especially to a silicon disk memory card with a USB plug. The card can be a PC card or a Compact Flash card type I/II specification etc. having not only the memory and storing functions of the originally available PCMCIA interface or CF card interface, but also a standard USB xe2x80x9cplug and playxe2x80x9d function. This has the advantage that the memory, storing, and xe2x80x9cplug and playxe2x80x9d functions can be carried out without the need for an additional electric power source, while satisfactorily meeting all requirements of consumers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Along with popularization of the commodities of information such as computers, digital cameras, digital recording pens etc., demand by consumers for digital storage equipment gets larger and larger from day to day. Conventional storage media provided by manufacturers include the flash memories of: PCMCIA cards, Compact Flash cards, Smart Media cards, Multimedia cards, Secure Digital cards and Memory Stick cards etc. These storing media gradually take the place of soft and hard disks to become the prevailing storing devices. In particular, more and more consumer electronic products, such as digital cameras, MP3 walkmans, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and computers (PC/NB) etc. have adopted CF cards (Compact Flash cards) and PC cards (PCMCIA cards) as their storing media. Three kinds of products, including card readers, MP3 walkmans, and Removable Hard Disks, have been further combined with the CF cards or PC cards recently. Removable Hard Disks, advertised as xe2x80x9csmall in volume and convenient for use,xe2x80x9d are most noticed in the markets.
The kinds of Removable Hard Disks in the markets are numerous, including Disk on Keys, ThumbDrives etc. They not only have the feature of being small in volume and convenient for use, but also are provided each with an integrally formed USB xe2x80x9cPlug And Playxe2x80x9d plug. A Removable Hard Disk can be formed without installing a driver program, and a user can easily store data in the silicon disk card. In comparison with the same kind of products including Compact Flash cards, Smart Media (SM) Cards, Multimedia (MMC) cards, Secure Digital (SD) cards and Memory Stick (MS) cards etc., Removable Hard Disks are advantageous in being small in volume, large in capacity, fast in speed, high in compatibility, strong in structure and low in cost.
In addition, a silicon disk card with a USB plug not only has the effect of enabling plug and play without any electric power supply, but also has the advantages of high safety, high data transmission speed (12 mb/sec.), hot swapping, convenient operation, no need of any computer assembling experience or any computer changing device, and of being able to support systems such as Windows 98 and Mac 0S 8.6 etc. It is no wonder that consumers and manufacturers get more and more fond of products like Removable Hard Disks and ThumbDrives. The products all have standard interfaces (USB) and large storage capacity, and will in the future have even larger storage capacity; they can be quickly connected to communicate with computers having USB plugs, and can easily have data directly transmitted to and from other types of consumer electronic and communication devices. For traveling commercial men, the feature of portability of the storage devices of Removable Hard Disks can provide convenience for data storage and amendment. And for general students, the feature of high capacity of the storage devices of Removable Hard Disks can provide the speed of operation required by MP3, VIDEOM GAME, PHOTO etc., in devices such as digital cameras, digital recorders, MP3 players, personal digital assistants (PDA), networking machines, video signal converters (STB), mobile phones, notebooks and information appliances (IA) etc.
The above-described Removable Hard Disks may be connected with various conventional utility programs such as e-mail, communication address book, ICQ etc., requiring only that the opposite side has a digital device such as a computer or a hand phone in order to easily make contact with others. Also, the Removable Hard Disks have small volumes and small weight, and yet are similar in operation to general magnetic disks, have a large data storage space up to 8 MB-1 GB, and the storage devices of the new generation can even have their storage spaces extended [unlimitedly] without limit. Moreover, the Removable Hard Disks can be designed to [be of] the specification of copy preventability and secure connection, so that they are more widely applicable. In addition to offering prevention from inadvertent deletion of data, they may be used to store video, acoustic data, books and games data etc. of works with copyrights, and even can be extended to be applicable to the electronic commercial field including value-save cards, telephone card and membership cards etc. The imaginable applications of newly developed favored products involving such storage media are unlimited, the storage devices being directly connectible to an unlimited variety of devices with insertion slots capable of using corresponding storage media. The storage devices have the functions of xe2x80x9cplug and playxe2x80x9d, high data transmission speed and high storing capacities, and do not increase the cost of the Removable Hard Disks.
The Removable Hard Disks are newly developed storage media with high efficiency, which are constantly being updated to perform new functions. The technical idea is similar to that of the silicon disks, the two kinds of products both including semiconductor based memories as storage media supplemented by some electric resistances, capacitors and bridging chips as the elements for controlling data discrimination. However, because the Removable Hard Disks do not have a unified standard and specification, like the various small silicon disks in the markets, their sizes and appearances are different from one another. Although they are alike in having internal memories and microprocessors, and thereby can have the advantages of high data transmission speed and high storing capacities, the difference is that they (DF, SD, MMC, SM silicon disks etc.) have different interfaces. A consumer facing such a situation will have a limited choice of compatible products and can only be at the mercy of manufacturers. As a result, the consumer may end up owning a plurality of incompatible storage media increasing the cost of the consumer in purchasing, and resulting in the problem that users are not able to have effective fluent intercommunication and interchangeability. These are significant defects and result in substantial inconvenience for the consumer in use.
In addition, conventional silicon disks or Removable Hard Disks are all designed for specific groups of digital products, such as: those which have USB sockets that are specific for USB plugs, those which have PCMCIA sockets that are specific for PCMCIA interface pin boards etc. They are different from one another and be interchangeably used. Although there have been various small silicon disks (SD, MMC, SM cards etc.) are able to convert themselves into storage media of PCMCIA or CF interface by means of an adapter, there is no such adapter to convert a PCMCIA or CF interface into a USB interface.
In view of the above statement, in order to solve the above stated problems and to get the effects required, the inventor of the present invention studied with tests and developed a silicon disk card with a USB plug that solves the problem that conventional silicon disks are unable to combine with digital products provided with USB plugs.
Particularly, the silicon disk card with a USB plug provided by the present invention is comprised of: a USB plug, an electric circuit board, at least one flash memory and a bridging chip, and a module in the shape of a rectangular frame formed by injection molding of plastic. The electric circuit board can be fixed in the rectangular frame. The module is provided on one side thereof with an interface pin board, and on the opposite side thereof with a slot to receive the USB plug therein. The slot can have a leading function to lead the USB plug out of the module, and can be applicable to different type of USB plugs.
Another object of the present invention is to exploit the fact that conventional silicon disks such as PC or CF cards have added with USB plugs, by providing such silicon disks with USB plugs with the function of twin interface data transmitting, a bridging chip being used therein to decide which interface has access to data. Such a USB plug enables the present invention to be a portable and favorite Removable Hard Disk. The present invention is applicable to and can communicate without [hindering] hindrance with various portable digital products, PCs"" and peripheral equipments of computers, to provide a user with excellent convenience. In this mode, the problems that the conventional silicon disks or Removable Hard Disks are not interchangeable and the high cost to the consumer can be solved.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an insertion slot to receive a USB plug therein, and enable the USB plug to be ejected out of the silicon disk card of the present invention in various modes such as by pushing, by rotation etc. The present invention can be combined with any of the currently available USB sockets.
Additionally, the silicon disk card with a USB plug of the present invention not only has the originally available transmitting interface of the PCMCIA/CF specification, it further has a twin interface including a USB plug to make the numerous storage media which are incapable of being standardized in the markets able to be commonly used with the Removable Hard Disks of the present invention. This is good news for systems manufacturers or consumers. Furthermore, the present invention solves the problems that a conventional silicon disk can only be used for a single group, that a consumer has no choice in purchasing various storage media in the markets, and that various portable digital products, computer systems or peripheral equipment of computers are not able to have effective fluent intercommunication and interchangeability.
The present invention will be apparent in its contents of technique and characteristics after reading the detailed description of the preferred embodiment thereof in reference to the accompanying drawings.